Kinesthetic Metaphors for Precise Spatial Manipulation: A Study of Object Rotation

Abstract

In this article, we report on our investigation of kinesthetic feedback as a means to provide precision, accuracy, and mitigation of arm fatigue in spatial manipulation tasks. Most works on spatial manipulation discuss the use of haptics (kinesthetic/force and tactile) primarily as a means to offer physical realism in spatial user interfaces (SUIs). Our work offers a new perspective in terms of how force-feedback can promote precise manipulations in spatial interactions to aid manual labor, controllability, and precision. To demonstrate this, we develop, implement, and evaluate three new haptics-enabled interaction techniques (kinesthetic metaphors) for precise rotation of 3D objects. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of experiments reveal that the addition of force-feedback improves precision for each of the rotation techniques. Self-reported user feedback further exposes a novel aspect of kinesthetic manipulation in its ability to mitigate arm fatigue for close-range spatial manipulation tasks.